Raymond James Financial Inc. Invests $4.70 Million in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT)

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 103,771 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,704,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Boston Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in shares of California Water Service Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $210,000. Penn Mutual Asset Management acquired a new stake in California Water Service Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $239,000. Ieq Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of California Water Service Group during the fourth quarter worth $202,000. Asset Planning Inc acquired a new position in shares of California Water Service Group during the fourth quarter worth $204,000. Finally, Aigen Investment Management LP lifted its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 18.1% in the 4th quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP now owns 4,954 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $225,000 after acquiring an additional 760 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on CWT. Bank of America initiated coverage on California Water Service Group in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $57.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com raised California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of California Water Service Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $56.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, California Water Service Group currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $53.25.

California Water Service Group Trading Down 0.9 %

NYSE CWT opened at $45.48 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.71 billion, a PE ratio of 13.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 0.49. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $45.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $48.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. California Water Service Group has a 12 month low of $41.64 and a 12 month high of $56.25.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.38 by ($0.05). California Water Service Group had a net margin of 19.56% and a return on equity of 13.24%. The company had revenue of $222.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $216.37 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.52 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that California Water Service Group will post 3.15 EPS for the current year.

California Water Service Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This is a boost from California Water Service Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.64%. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio is 36.70%.

California Water Service Group Company Profile

California Water Service Group, through its subsidiaries, provides water utility and other related services in California, Washington, New Mexico, Hawaii, and Texas. The company is involved in the production, purchase, storage, treatment, testing, distribution, and sale of water for domestic, industrial, public, and irrigation uses, as well as for fire protection services.